Sewing-machine table



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. B. RATHBUN.

SEWING MAGHINE TABLE.

No; 271,362. Patented Jan.30,1883.

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(No Modl.) a Sheets-Sheet 2. O. B. RATHBUN.

SEWING MACHINE TABLE. No. 271,362. Patented Jan. 30, 1883.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. O. B. RATHBUN.

SEWING MACHINE TABLE.

No. 271.362. Patented Jan-.30, 1883.

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NITED STATES PATENT Wren.

CHARLES B. RATHBUN, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE UPTON, OF PEABODY, MASSACHUSETTS.

SEWING-MACHINE TABLE.

SPECIFIQATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 271,362, dated January 30, 1883. Application filed July 10, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES E. RATHBUN, otBridgeport, county of Fairtield, State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Sewing-Machine Tables, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention in sewing-machine cabinet has for its object the production of a cabinet in which the machine may be turned down into the cabinet or case, and when not in use he covered by a leaf, thus forming a table or writing-desk, securing the machine from injury, and making a more compact body, occupying less space than by the ordinary method of covering with a box. The tabletop proper is composed of three lids or boards loosely connected within and flush with the top of the four side Walls ot'the case. Thefront lid, or that toward the operator, is used as a cover for a receptacle for tools, materials, 850., and the said lid, at its end, has journals or pins to enter elongated slots in metal plates secured to the case, said slots allowing the journals or pins of the lid to move forward away from the then fixed center lid, so that the front lid may be readily turned. The center lid or board, having the sewing machine head attached to it, is also provided at its ends with journals or pins forming parts of metal plates, which pins extend into the longitudinal slots of metal plates secured to the case, the slots in the said plates preferably being open 'at one side to allow the journals or pins of the center lid to be removed from the slots of the said plates when it is desired to employ instead of it another lid cut out to receive and hold a different machine, thus readily adapting the cabinet to sewingmachines of different or any usual kind by simply a change of center lid. The back of the center lid is beveled on its under side to form a wedge or lever-like working joint or connection with the adjoining edge of the back or supporting lid, the latter by its beveled edge sustaining the center lid in horizontal position, the center and back lids being forced horizontally into position to close all the joints opened between them during the movement of the center and back lids to place the center lid in horizontal and the machine-head in working position. The back lid has at its ends journals and pins to enter and turn and slide in slots in plates attached to the case. These journals or pins, and the slotted platesin which they turn and slide, constitute what I shall herein denominate slot-ted hinges, and their' of the frame-work, and the said lids constituting the top will present in use one even horizontal surface to receive the work of the operator. If the lids were hinged to each other or to the sides ofthecase by ordinary butt-hinges, such as now in use, the center lid could not be both raised and lowered and the front lid be lifted when desired, as the straight edges of the front and center lids would not yield, but would impinge. The slotted hinge permits the front lid to be raised freely at any time, regardless of the position of the center and back lids.

When the front-lid is engaged and lifted its rear edge strikes against the center lid, and the end journals or pins of the front lid are caused to move forward in the slots made for their reception. As the center or machine lid on which the machine is attached is lifted or turned up and out of the case the slotted hinges permit the said lid to be moved forward, the front edge of the center lid then imping ing against the rear edge of the front lid. The sliding movement of the journals or end pins of the center lid, as the latter is being turned about the said pins as centers, permits the center lid to-be lifted above a horizontal plane,

which it is obvious could not be done with anordinary butt-hinge. The centerlid, by means of the slotted hinges, may be lifted above a horizontal plane, and thus be made to act upon and lift the back lid, so that the latter, as the centerlid passes from'eontact with it, will fall under the center lid and form a support for it. So, also, by lifting the center lid from its horizontal position, the edge ofthe back lid may he exposed, to be grasped, lifted, and turned out of the way of the center lid, so that it may be turned down into the case.

My invention consists in the construction and the combination of the parts constituting my improved cabinet, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 represents in full lines a front elevation of my improved cabinet with the sewing-machine head concealed from sight and the leaf or desk-top closed, the dotted lines showing the leaf openand broken 05 because of lack of space on the drawings. Fig. 2 is a top View of the cabinet with the leaf or desktop opened, showing the center lid and attached machine-head turned down within the case, the case being broken out to show the journals or end pins and the guide-plates in which they both turn and slide. Fig. 3 is a detail showing one of the side and centrally slotted guide-plates which receive the end pins of the center lid; Fig. 4, one of the end pins and its plate detached; and. Fig. 5, a vertical cross-section on the dotted line :10 m, Fig. 2, but with the sewing-machine head and the-center and back lids turned up into working position to form a top for the machine and work.

The side pieces, A, of the cabinet are provided at top with a case or four-sided part, B, open at top, as shown in Fig. 2, to receive loosely the back or sustaining lid, 0, the center or machine lid or board, I), and the front lid, E. 1

The back or sustaining lid, 0, has at each end a journal or pin, 0, which is entered into a slot, 0', the pin 0 permitting the lid to turn on the said pins as centers, and the said pins also slide in the said slots horizontally. The front edge of the lid 0 is beveled at its upper side, and rests, when turned down, upon a stop, 0

The center or machine lid or board, D, has secured to its end metal plates d, provided with journals or pins (1, which are entered into slots of the guide-plates 01 having, as shown in Fig. 3, a side slot or opening, 3, to permit the passage into and from the slot 4 of the pins d, when it is desired to employ with the case a lid having a center opening for a Singer, Home, or other machineto be used. The edge of the center lid next the back or sustaining lid is beveled or inclined at its under side, so as to rest upon the beveled edge of the back 'or sustaining lid, the latter sustaining the rear end of the center lid, while the ends of the center lid, near its opposite edge, are held by the 'pins 01.

The center lid, D, has connected with it the sewing-machine head S. As the rear edge of the lid D is swung upward from its position, Fig. 2, and as dotted in Fig. 5, into the fullline position, Fig. 5, the edge of the lid D strikes the edge of lid 0 at its under side and turns it up, as in dotted lines, Fig. 5; but as the lid D passes above a horizontal position, which is possible by reason ofthe slotted hinges, and passes the edge of lid 0, the latter quickly drops into the full-line position, and then lid D is turned back or lowered until its inclined edge rests upon the inclined edge of lid 0, and as lid D settles down or is forced down into place the said inclined edges, by their action one on the other, cause the lids O D to slide horizontally until their upper surfaces are substantially level, the said inclined surfaces acting to wedge the lids closely together in the case or part B, and serve as a top for the case and for the work to rest upon.

The leaf G, when turned over to the left, as shown in Fig. 2, on its hinges g, serves as an extension-leaf to support the work. The leaf G is supported on a swinging or movable bracket, H, provided near its outer end with a tack having an india-rubber or elastic head, 6, to prevent marring the leaf, the said tack being clinched below the said bracket at 7.

The case Bis divided by a partition, I), and has a bottom piece, I), forming a receptacle, M, for tools, &c. This receptacle part of the cabinet is closed at top by the front lid, E, having journals or end pins, 6, entered into slots 0. The case B has a slide, b made vertically movable in guides b and when drawn down, as in Fig. 5, the slide hides the center lid or the interior of the case.

The machine-band fis driven from the flywheel 9 on the crank-shaft 71/, shown as having two cranks connected by links m m with 'treadles n a.

At the left of side piece, A, are two drawers,p p. The shaft h is supported in hangers h h bolted to the bottom board, h".

The beveled edges of the center and back lids act as follows, viz: As the center lid is raised to place the sewing-machine head in position it strikes the back lid, raises it, and, passing the back lid, the latter drops into position as a support for the center lid, the two beveled edges then resting one on the other, and as the said beveled edges come in contact, the center lid resting on the back lid under the weight of the sewin g-m achine, the beveled edge of the back lid enables the center lid .to be easily and gradually brought with their top surfaces at the same level, the center and back lids being moved gradually horizontally into their proper places.

I do not claim broadly a hinged board or lid to support a sewing-machine head, whereby the same may be turned down into the cabinet and be concealed; nor do I broadly claim slotted hinges.

1 claim 1. The case or box partB of the cabinet and lid E, combined with the center or machineholding lid, supported thereon at each end by slotted hinges, substantially as described, to permit the said lid to be turned both above and below the level of the top of the case or nect the ends of the said lids, as described, with the case, and back lid beveled at its front edge to sustain and force the center lid into position, as set forth.

3. The case B and its partitions b b to form the receptacle M, combined with the front lid,

E, and center lid, D, and the slotted hinges, whereby the said lids may be both turned and moved horizontally, as set forth.

4. The case B, lid E, and the plate 6?, having the longitudinal slot 4 and side slot, 3, combined with the center lid and its end journals or studs, all substantially as described.

5. The case B of the sewing-machine cabinet and its three lids, O D E, and their slotted r5 hinges to connect the said lid side by side with the case, as described, combined with the leaf G, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub- 20 scribing witnesses.

CHARLES B. RATHBUN.

Witnesses:

G. W. GREGORY, FRED A. POWELL. 

